WAY4 News

Halyk Bank Launches CUP Acquiring on WAY4

Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan and OpenWay launch WAY4 for acquiring China Union Pay (CUP) cards. This project is expected to further promote trade relations between Kazakhstan and China.

October 4, 2006 - Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Shanghai, China

OpenWay's WAY4 solution for acquiring China Union Pay payment cards was implemented in Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan. The solution's implementation and certification were carried out within just three months, sticking closely to Halyk Bank, CUP and OpenWay's initially planned schedule. ATM and POS acquiring of CUP cards was implemented by OpenWay through a new WAY4 CUP Interface module.

Halyk Bank has been successfully using WAY4 to issue and acquire payment cards for years. Now, CUP's cardholders can pay for goods and services, receive information about their card account balance, and withdraw cash in ATMs through Halyk's payment network in Kazakhstan.

According to Askar Kusainov, Deputy Chairman of JSC Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan, "Successful economic cooperation between Kazakhstan and China requires a developed bank infrastructure that considers the needs of large-scale companies, sole proprietors, and individuals from both countries. We are sure that issuing and acquiring CUP cards in Kazakhstan will promote trade relations based on modern e-commerce, and every market participant will profit from this."

Mr Kevin Francis Wong, CEO of OpenWay Asia, noted: "Implementing projects in Asia is one of OpenWay's top priorities. Kazakhstan's banking market is one of the most technologically developed markets in the world, and we have many years of successful cooperation under our belt. Halyk Bank is one of the market's major participants, and we are proud that Halyk has chosen our WAY4 solutions to develop its retail business. We are sure that the new functionality accessing CUP's "Chinese" cards, which number almost one billion, will guarantee further business development in both Halyk Bank and the Republic of Kazakhstan as a whole".

The next stage of Halyk Bank, CUP and OpenWay's project is certification for issuing CUP cards. It is going to give Kazakhstan's businessmen and natural persons a convenient means of settlement in China.

Union Pay International

UnionPay International (UPI) is a subsidiary focusing on development and support of UnionPay's international business. Its founder is China UnionPay (pinyin: Zhōngguó Yínlián, CUP) – China's payment system. Founded in 2002 by the country's leading banks, its creation was initiated by the State Council and People's Bank of China. Just two years later, the company began working outside China and currently operates in 142 countries.

People's Bank of Kazakhstan (Halyk)

People's Bank of Kazakhstan (halykbank.kz) is one of Kazakhstan's leading financial groups and retail banks with the largest customer base and distribution network in Kazakhstan. The Bank is developing as a universal financial group, offering a broad range of services (banking, insurance, leasing, brokerage, and asset management) to its retail, small and medium enterprises and corporate customers. People's Bank also operates in Russia, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan.